Sir – Having been at the count myself, I found it interesting that Bob Price, in understandably ebullient mood after his Labour group took control of Oxford City Council, congratulated returning officer Jeremy Thomas and his staff on doing an excellent job. I too was impressed by the speed and efficiency of the vote counters.

But yet again there are grave concerns about the conduct of the election as whole.

The 657 delayed postal votes if divided equally among the Oxford East wards would be around 34 in each one — more than the winning majority in St Clements.

It is not good enough for Jeremy Thomas to say ‘Electors had the opportunity until 5pm on polling day to request a replacement if they had not been delivered’ — people requested a postal vote because they would be away on polling day, the late arrival of the voting pack disenfranchised them.

In the case of student Jack Matthews being encouraged to vote twice, Jeremy Thomas says ‘We will be seeking an account from the staff involved — and if that is true, then they will not be used on electoral duty again.’ Again, an entirely inadequate response — possibly the police should be invited to investigate a case of incitement to commit electoral fraud?

In my local polling station I saw a non-British EU citizen being handed a general election ballot paper — I had to point out to the elections officer that this person was not entitled to vote in the national election, and only then was the ballot paper hurriedly retrieved.

Along with reports of polling cards delivered to non-existent people in the Divinity Road area, this adds up to a worrying picture.

Evidently there are severe gaps in the training and supervision of elections officers. The distribution of polling cards and postal ballots remains badly flawed. The electors of the city of Oxford deserve better.

Chris Brewer, Headington